Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ a thunderous triumph by BSO, singers

The opening of Mozart’s “Requiem” was so powerful Sunday at the Maine Center for the Arts that you’d have to be, well, dead not to be drawn in. The combined efforts of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, University of Maine Singers and University of Maine Oratorio Society launched a performance of the traditional Catholic funeral Mass that was so rousing it surely shook some life into even the most inanimate of listeners.

The drama was enough to convince more than a few in attendance that, when it comes time for a funeral, having more than 150 singers plus trumpets and trombones commending one’s spirit to the heavens by way of Mozart can only be a good thing.

Early reports about Maestro Xiao-Lu Li’s approach to this work suggested he planned to move with alacrity through the hour-long piece. Indeed, he did electrify the tempo with a forward thrust so dedicated and a volume so large that it was easy to succumb to the high pitch of emotion in the notes. Yet Li also showed restraint, particularly during the lovely “Lacrimosa.”

For the most part, the soloists were placed somewhat in the background to the powerhouse contribution of the massive choral group and orchestral musicians. The lower voices – baritone Zheng Zhou and mezzo-soprano Jami Tyzik – were darkly rich, and the higher ones – tenor Thomas Trotter and soprano Malinda Haslett – were bright and clean. Zhou’s opening to the “Tuba mirum” was excitingly deep, and Haslett had a captivating openness to her voice as well as her performance.

But the elbow-to-elbow singers – so many in number that they spilled off of the risers – were the real stars. This was a large-scale approach to Mozart, less lyrical and warm than theatrical and driving. The eruptions of sound were mighty, and it felt as if the walls were bowing outward trying to contain the music.

The concert was book-ended by poetic performances of Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus,” first conducted by UM Singer’s director Dennis Cox and second by UM Oratorio Society director Ludlow Hallman, each of whom prepared the groups for the concert.

Even the most secular audience member might have felt a tinge of religious belief and a sense of salvation during the afternoon. Music can do that. Mozart can do that.

And it’s pretty clear Maestro Li likes to do that, too. It was also a fitting concert to dedicate to longtime symphony supporter and beloved board member Mary Lou Colbath, who died earlier this spring.